Three States

Since last we talked, Mike and I have traveled in three states. We're spending tonight in a little town called Hawthorne, Nevada, and we expect to reach Pahrump tomorrow. I have lots of pictures for you, and so I'll let them tell the story.

We traveled south to Eugene and then cut across the mountain passes toward Klamath Falls. It took us a while to get out of the rain.

And the snow.

This next photo gives me a good opportunity to make excuses for my crappy photos. Many were taken with my iPhone as we sped by and so I sometimes missed the shot. This one, for example...only it was a barn quilt, and so I couldn't resist showing it to you even if it is a crappy picture. I did see some other quilt blocks on the side of a building in Tulelake, California, but this was the only one in Oregon, and the only one I thought quickly enough to even attempt a photo. 

This covered bridge is located just before you get to Oakridge, Oregon.

The dynamic weather made for some dramatic skies.

We drove past a lot of wildflowers. I suspect the ones in the lower part of this image are desert sunflowers, but it's hard to tell without seeing them up close. We passed by some purple ones on today's drive and also some small blooming cactus. I would dearly love to have gotten better pictures of all of them, but sometimes we just need to keep moving down the road. Also, there often isn't a good place to stop.

Before the end of the day on Friday, we'd crossed into California.

From there, we drove along the state line and through the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. There were a lot of birds around and this is a stop over place for them along the Pacific Flyway. It was next to impossible to get pictures of any of them, but we stopped briefly, and I was able to capture these. Just looking at their size and their long curved bills, I'm going to go out on a limb and say these are a type of ibis.

We stayed in Likely, California, last night...it was only likely that we would. It was way off the beaten path, and possibly the most quiet RV park we've ever enjoyed. To get there, we drove through a cow pasture. As we passed over the grating on the far side, we spied this guy, who posed nicely until the second I pressed the shutter. We think it's probably some kind of muskrat or else a prairie dog. Hard to say for sure.

We arrived too late to check in through ordinary channels, and so I just picked up a sign-in sheet and we walked back to the office later to drop it in the slot. Along the way, we saw these pretty trees loaded in red blossoms. Are these what folks refer to as a Redbud Tree? They were gorgeous.

There was a golf course at this RV park, and looking out across the expanse, this was our view.

The sagebrush was covered with these "flowers". I'm not sure if this is the actual flower, or if these have already bloomed and we were seeing what was left.

One change we've made since our last fifth wheel trip was to rearrange things so that each kitty has their own cubby. These are the cupboards above our couch. Sadie has no problem horning in on what was previously Smitty's undisputed territory. Now, they each have their own space. Sadie really wants to be where Smitty is, but we've erected a wall in the middle...for now. Maybe we'll decide to let them roam free.

We all slept surprisingly well. Usually the kitties are restless the first night out, but they left us alone. It was cold, and so Smitty got under the covers and snuggled next to me. When we awakened this morning, there was a dusting of snow.

The gravel roads were clear, however, and so we got under way fairly early. This was our view as we traveled through this small corner of Northern California.

Just before crossing over into Nevada, we stopped at the Honey Lake Rest Area. There were bird houses mounted on all the trees. We didn't see a lot of birds, but we could hear them chirping.

These trees had the most beautiful yellow foliage.

It was hard to get a good picture of the lake. There was some construction going on there, and everything was roped off. I trudged out through some wet weeds to get this picture. We're told this lake is ordinarily dry, which attests to how much rain has fallen this year.

And you just know I have to take pictures of every blooming thing. I used my wildflower identification app, but have yet to be able to identify these. Our internet has been rather weak.

Shortly after that, we passed into Nevada at Bordertown. Makes sense, no?

Nevada's landscape is far different from Northern California or Oregon. It's much more flat and dry with lots of sagebrush and very few trees. We traveled alongside the Truckee River for much of the day.

Our final destination for today was Hawthorne, Nevada, and along the way we learned what we could about it. As it turns out, Hawthorne is home to the largest munitions depot in the world. 

As we approached Hawthorne, we could see it off in the distance. If you look in the middle of the image, you'll see the above-ground buildings on the right side and row upon row of underground bunkers on the left.

From where this picture was taken, it was just about another half mile to the RV park. The most exciting part of any journey is getting the catio set up so that the kitties can get out and have a look-see.

Now you know when you travel with me, you're going to see lots of barns. 

Big ones and little ones.

I most regret not getting the whole of this next one.

So, here we are for the night. We've traveled nearly 800 miles. Tomorrow will be shorter, and we expect to arrive at our final destination for the next several days by early tomorrow afternoon.